


Open Doors (Forbidden Love)

by bootypatrol



Category: NBC Nightly News
Genre: M/M, Partner Betrayal, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 08:30:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12317430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bootypatrol/pseuds/bootypatrol
Summary: Brian Williams is used to cover the hard-hitting news, but what happens when he gets hit hard in the heart by his coworker, Lester Holt? Here, the political starts to become personal.





	Open Doors (Forbidden Love)

The mood was somber at Rockefeller Center. In the NBC Nightly News Studio, Brian Williams had just received the news that he would be suspended indefinitely from his anchor duties -- something about lying about being in a helicopter that was shot down in Iraq in 2005. To be honest, Brian didn’t even remember reporting such a thing; however, he could never forget why he lied about his whereabouts on that fateful day.

Since he took over anchoring duties from Tom Brokaw, Bri had been pretending to be someone he wasn’t. Every night, he would go on national tv, appearing to be a figure of stability, with his buttery voice, 1980s accountant haircut, and his ugly ties, but in actuality, he was anything but stable. The truth was that every day for the last 10 years, Brian Williams’ insides were being grated like a sharp Irish cheddar. The truth was that Brian Williams was in love... with Lester Holt.

From the beginning, he knew it was foolish; he knew they could never be. But some small part of him hoped that someday, they could live out their young, hot lives together. However, he knew this was about as likely as significant gun control legislation following this year’s mass shooting. But one day in 2005, the stars aligned in Bri’s favor. 

* * *

 

_ It was a rainy day, and Brian was staying at the Doubletree© by Hilton in Crystal City, Virginia - there weren’t any rooms available at the Capital Hilton. He was thinking about how the capital kind of looks like a boob and eating his shitty Doubletree cookie when there was a knock at the door. Bri wasn’t expecting anyone, so naturally, he was wary as he went to look through the peephole. To his surprise, the man standing in the doorway was none other than NBC Nightly News correspondent and human masterpiece, Lester Holt. It took everything in Brian’s lithe body to not throw open the door with the same enthusiasm as when they’re handing free samples at Trader Joe’s.  _

_ “Hey, uh, Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News,” Lester stammered. “It’s raining really hard outside, and it’s also the anniversary of the euthanization of the dog that played Shadow in Disney’s  _ _ Homeward Bound - _ _ ” _

_ “Blessed be his memory,” Brian softly interjected. _

_ “-So I’m not feeling so hot right now. Look, I understand that we both live in New York and there is literally no reason for us to be in Crystal City right now, but, just for tonight… will you just hold me?”  _

_ It was at this moment, in this Doubletree© by Hilton, that Brian Williams discovered that he was not the only one in love -- unadulterated, irrevocable love, with his coworker. As Lester lay his Grade-AA extra-large, free-range egg head on Bri’s love rug, it just felt  _ right. 

_ “Bri” Lester whispered, meeting the anchor’s cocunut-blue flavor slush from Sonic, America’s Drive-in™- colored orbs, “Do you ever think about life?”  _

_ Brian Chuckled. “Of course I do, mon petit Totino™, but what do you mean?” _

_ Lester sighed wistfully. “I don’t know. It’s funny, you never know what doors are going to open up and why they are going to open up. But you’ve gotta be ready to walk through them. When I was knocking on your door, I didn’t know what I would do if you opened up, but I knew that if you opened up, I would come in.” _

_ “Wait, what?” Brian, said, confused. “How can you know, but also not know? It sounds like you had a plan.” _

_ A single tear ran down Holt’s flat cheek. “It be like that sometimes,” he whispered. _

_ “I mean, I guess so?” _

_ “Never mind all that, I came to consummate a relationship with my coworker and chew bubblegum, and I’m all out of gum.” _

* * *

 

_ Two days after that magical evening, Brian returned Rockefeller Center. Upon arriving, he was immediately approached by Jack Donaghy, CEO of NBC at 30 Rock.  _

_ “Bri-guy, where have you been for the last two days? You and Lester were both gone, so we had to have Kenneth the Page read the news. It was worse than having your balls fondled by a raccoon, or worse, a Democrat.” _

_ Williams immediately panicked, not wanted to give away his dirty little secret. “I-I uh… was in a helicopter. In Iraq. and it uh- got shot down. Yeah, that’s it. Shit was crazy.” _

* * *

 

As Brian was packing his banker’s box, Lester strolled into the studio. Brian, who never gave up on the idea that he and Lester could become something more, immediately broke the silence.

“Lester, this is terrible! I’m losing my job, all because the network found out I lied about that helicopter. I did it for you, it was all for you!”

Holt chuckled at this admission, his abnormally large forehead shining under the lights like the arctic tundra. “Why would you say that you did it all for me? The only thing you ever did was lie about our encounter. It was only a matter of time before this information would come forward to the higher-ups.”

“Lester, you don’t mean…”

“It was me, Bri. I told Jack that you were never in that helicopter.”

“You didn’t!”

“I literally just told you that I did.”

“But why?”

“Jack said that if I told him some dirt on someone from the newsroom, then I could go to his Superbowl party. You never know what doors are going to open, Bri.”

 

In the aftermath of this ultimate betrayal, Lester Holt would go on to become the next great forehead face of NBC Nightly News. 

Things weren’t as good for Brian Williams. After his firing, he very quickly fell down a dark path. One day, two years later, Williams would be found dead in Miami. Cause of death: a broken heart. 

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this instead of my History paper Haaaaa


End file.
